(Newser)
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"I always thought of Dumbledore as gay," J.K. Rowling confided last night to cheers from a sellout crowd in New York, reports the AP. "If I had known this would have made you this happy, I would have told you years ago," said the author of the Harry Potter series, on the outing of Harry's mentor Albus Dumbledore.

Rowling noted that Dumbledore was in love with his friend and later rival Gellert Grindelwald, whose turn toward dark magic left Dumbledore feeling "horribly, terribly let down." Though her audience seemed delighted at the news—and certainly some writers of fan fiction will be as well—Rowling said she expected a backlash from the Christian groups who already object to her books on the grounds that they promote witchcraft.